I thought it was about time I did a pre-trippie as Hayley is putting me to shame with all her holiday ramblings!

I did consider competing with Dawnís 71 part trip report but not for long!!!

I canít promise that mine will be anywhere near as good or funny as Dawnís or as full of excitement and enthusiasm as Hayleyís but Iíll give it a go.

Introduction

Me-Teresa 37 ĖPayer, planner and biggest kid of all. :mickeywal
Robyn-13- My best friend, my helper and lover of all things pink and Tinker bell :tinkani:
Jack-10 but will be 11 before we go-My baby, so grown up but still loves Disney and gets the most excited of all of us!!! LOver of Stitch :stitch:

Background
This will be my 4th and the kids 3rd trip to Disney but the first for just the 3 of us where we have made all the decisions and I have had to pay and plan everything myself. There have been many visits to DLP to keep us going including the one that I drove all the way from Cornwall and back just to get a Disney fix!!!

I first went to Disney in 1992 for my first wedding anniversary. I canít believe how little I knew then compared to what I do now. We stayed at the Quality Inn International.
The first time we took the kids was in December 2001.We went for 3 weeks and stayed at the Holiday Inn Express on I-Drive.
Last time we went was in August 2003 when we stayed at the Holiday Inn on I-Drive.

On all previous trips the kids Dad was with us. Donít want to talk about it too much but lets just say that it wasnít their holiday and they couldnít really enjoy it to the max.

Anyway when their Dad decided to leave in January 2004 I vowed that no matter what it took one day I would get them back to enjoy Disney how it should be enjoyed.

And here we are 8 weeks away from that enjoyment. It has taken me 3 years to save and Iíve still put lots on my credit card. Iíll worry about that when we come back though.
I did so much research and finally booked in March 2006. I had to pay full adult fare for DD as prices are always based on 2 adults sharing but I managed to get DS for £299. I booked the 14 day Disney tickets and 5 park flex and set up a direct debit to help pay for my massive commitment.

Have never stayed onsite before so we are starting off with 8 nights at the Rodeway on I-Drive with one night at RPR in the middle then transferring down to Disney for 9 nights at All Sat Movies.

I managed to get free dining plan added at a later date but Iím not jinxing that by talking about it too much as Virgin have messed up my booking with it so many times itís not funny. DDP has been taken off and put back on more times than ÖÖ.canít put what I thought of as Iíll get banned!!!!!
Anyway Virginís continuous cock ups have resulted in me getting £150 compensation and 3 5 day MYW Disney Park passes on top of the passes I already have (what a shame Iíll have to use these on the next trip)
As of today and yes I do check EVERY day DDP is still showing on my booking.

At 180 days out I phoned and booked all of my ADRís and also bought Pirate and Princess Party tickets when they became available. (These will be listed later on my itinerary)
As some of you know there are other things I have booked but I canít talk about them until I get back. ;)

I booked us on a coach up to Gatwick so that I donít have to drive back home after an overnight flight. We are staying at the Hilton. For return coach travel and overnight stay for the three of us it was only £152 so it was rude not to!!!!.

I also applied for an M&S credit card with a years interest free credit so Iíve ordered all our $$$ and have a year to pay it back- in theory!

DD has made all of our Mousekeeping cards (photos to follow) and I have made a start on my itinerary cards (thanks to Hayley). :D

Anything I have forgotten will be put in updates.

Jodie

02-07-2008, 03:39 PM

Off to read the rest

:)

Jodie

foreverducky

13-07-2008, 08:02 PM

Going to read the next part. :D

Jodie

20-10-2008, 04:30 PM

I'm re-reading 'cos it's really good!

mInNiE

20-10-2008, 07:11 PM

I'm gonna start it too! So much to read it's gonna be fab!! Off to have my tea now but am gonna catch up later! :p015: